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Viet Nam: Prisoners of Conscience Released

Amnesty International

February 2005

Amnesty International warmly welcomes news of the release of several Vietnamese prisoners of conscience. Those due to be released include Dr Nguyen Dan Que, Nguyen Dinh Huy, Thich Thien Minh and Father Nguyen Van Ly. The four men, who have been incarcerated for a total of 88 years since the late 1970s, are being released as part of a general amnesty for over 8,000 prisoners to mark Tet, the Lunar New Year. 

Amnesty International has been campaigning for these prisoners of conscience for many years and some of the credit for their release must go to the thousands of Amnesty International volunteers worldwide. From Thailand to Portugal, members have held vigils and written to the Vietnamese authorities and their own governments to ensure that these prisoners have not been forgotten.

Dr Nguyen Dan Que, 62 years old

A distinguished doctor and long-time human rights activist, Dr Que has spent 20 of the last 27 years in prison for criticizing the government's human rights record. He was most recently arrested in March 2003 after issuing a statement, published abroad, asserting that there was no freedom of information in Viet Nam. Dr Que was sentenced to two-and-a-half years' imprisonment after an unfair trial on 29 July 2004. 

Undaunted by the number of years already spent in prison, Dr Que was determined to continue advocating for human rights and became an international member of Amnesty International during one brief period of freedom in 1990. Throughout his years of imprisonment, he has suffered from poor health.

Nguyen Dinh Huy, 73 years old

Nguyen Dinh Huy, a former English and History professor, was the founder of the Movement to Unite the People and Build Democracy (MUPBD). He was arrested in November 1993 with 11 other MUPBD members for planning an international conference in Ho Chi Minh City on democracy and human rights. He was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment under national security legislation. He has previously spent 17 years in prison for "re-education" without charge or trial. He has suffered from ill-health for many years.


Buddhist monk Thich Thien Minh, also known as Huynh Van Ba, 51 years old

Thich Thien Minh, a member of the non-sanctioned Unified Buddhist Church of Viet Nam (UBCV), was arrested and imprisoned in 1979 after protesting at the government takeover of the pagoda where he lived. The pagoda was then razed to the ground. He was accused of "trying to overthrow the government" and sentenced to life imprisonment. In 1986 he was reportedly sentenced to a second term of life imprisonment for an alleged escape attempt. Both trials were held in secret, and he was not given a defence lawyer. 

He has been subjected to long periods of solitary confinement and was reportedly shackled hand and foot for a continuous three-year period, during which time he needed assistance from other prisoners to eat and relieve himself.

Catholic priest Father Thadeus Nguyen Van Ly, 58 years old

Catholic priest Father Ly was arrested in May 2001 and was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment, plus five years probation on release, under national security legislation. Father Nguyen Van Ly has been an outspoken and persistent critic of government religious policies and human rights in particular with regard to confiscation of church property since 1975. He had previously spent one year in detention without trial in the late 1970s and was then sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment on account of his peaceful dissenting views in 1983. Amnesty International adopted Father Ly as a prisoner of conscience on both occasions.